Education

Education

More than 1 million students attend New York City’s public schools. Students suffer from segregated schools, discrimination based on race, disability, and language, and toxins in the air and water. The schools serve nearly 200,000 children with disabilities. The system fails many, denying them appropriate services, language access assistance for their parents, and safe conditions. For low-income families and those with limited English proficiency, the challenges of advocating for their children’s education are more difficult and time-consuming. NYLPI’s work in education ranges from representing thousands of children with disabilities and their parents to ensure a quality education and appropriate services (through special education); winning a decision from New York’s highest court that protects schoolchildren from toxins in their schools and legally enables parents, school personnel, and community members across New York State to evaluate school siting plans; forcing the City to remove PCB-contaminated lights – which had been leaking and even exploding – from NYC public schools; and challenging racial discrimination in high school sports.